Boat has been stored for 19 years

T

tr@v1s

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I need the Mercruiser experts to give me some guidance. I just bought a 1988 Glassport 165RX with the 3.0 Mercruiser (Alpha one Gen one) on a galvanized Shore Lander trailer. Boat was last on the water in 2006 and winterized professionally in Maine. It has not been started since then.

The floor has some dry rotting and all vinyl and seats will have to be replaced if I want to restore it. The hull is in decent condition. Of course none of that really matters unless the motor and drive are good.

Here's the good:
Trailer pulled home over an hour with no issues. Hubs are cool. Tires are good and lights even work.

Shift/throttle cable and linkages all seem good as well as steering.

Outdrive locked in solid as a rock both ways when shifted forward and reverse and spun freely with no noise or resistance when in neutral.
Outside of some minor rust and a few wires that a mouse got ahold of, the motor looked good and the oil looked perfect.

Here's the part I need lots of wisdom on:

I didn't try to turn the motor over with it having set almost 2 decades and I want to do things right to have the best chance of this thing running without a rebuild being needed.

So, please tell me exactly what steps you would take prior to trying to start the motor to attempt to avoid any issues. Please include the order you would do those steps in and what suggestions you have for the outdrive as well.

Here's my goal with the boat:

Get it running first. Then make sure it floats and doesn't have any major issues with the hull that I didn't notice. Then restore the interior and try flip it for a decent profit if all goes well.

I only gave $500 for it. So I figure the outdrive and trailer are worth way more than that if the motor is shot for some reason. Hoping I can have less than $2500 total in it (doing all the work myself) and be able to sell it around $4,000 - 5,000. Figure its a great opportunity for me to learn more on the Mercruisers and get back into working on boats again without much risk.
 
I would pull the plugs and put a camera in to take a look at the cylinders. Then maybe add a little fogging oil or similar. Try to turn over by hand. If it’s free, you’re in the ball game. I would drain any old fuel and start with fresh, maybe use a small portable tank to start. I would use new plugs. Good luck.
 
Pull the motor pull the tank and off to the scrapers. Nothing good will come from a 35+ year old I/o boat sitting for almost 2 decades
 
If you bought the boat to enjoy it, or to learn how to repair boats - that might not have been an horrible idea. But your idea to flip it for a profit is not going to work. Refreshing the interior is surprisingly expensive. And if the deck is rotted, it’s likely the stringers are too, and perhaps the transom.

With old abandoned boats, generally the only way to get any money out is to get it for free, sell the trailer, the motor ( assuming it runs) and the outdrive. Then scrap the rest. Once you start throwing money in, there is no way to recover it. But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.

That being said, if you want to get the motor running, start by draining every drop of fuel out of the tank. And probably replace the fuel lines.I would be surprised if the carb wasn’t all gummed up, requiring at least a tear down, clean out and reassembly - but probably a rebuild. Was there already ethanol in fuel in 2006? If so, you are going to need a new carb. Change the oil. Then follow the advice above, pull the plugs, oil the cylinders, and spin with a socket on the crank bolt. If it spins, next try to spin it with the starter and check the compression.

years ago I bought an abandoned inboard ski boat for $250, with the trailer. Spent at least two grand to redo the interior, dropped in a spare small block that I had in my garage, after spending another grand on exhaust, carb, fuel lines, tune up, etc. Materials for the stringer repair were not cheap, or the fiberglass, floatation foam, etc that had to be replaced. And new tires and hubs for the trailer another few hundred bucks.

When I was all done, I think I had five grand into the boat, plus the motor I had in my garage that was worth another two. And at least 250 hours of my own labor - even at ten bucks an hour that made it a ten grand investment. Sold it for $3,500, and was glad to get that. Had a lot of fun driving it around for two summers, and kept me busy all winter learning how to do a lot of repairs. But didn’t make any money, cost me a few thousand. Which I think is typical.
 
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This may be a bigger can of worms than you anticipated or wanted (I've been down this road lol).....however:
1. Remove spark plugs, fog the cylinders with oil (I am partial to Marvel Mystery oil in cases like this). Give it a day or two, then put a socket on the crank pulley and see if it will turn by hand. If it isn't locked up this should be pretty easy with no compression resistance; go to step 2. If it is locked up, quit now. At best a rebuild, worst engine replacement.
2. Get a fresh/good battery in it (if you haven't already to test the 12V electrical system). Reinstall the plugs (or install new ones, spark plugs are cheap). Disconnect the engine from the onboard/internal tank; get a portable tank with fresh gas. Connect the portable tank, pour a little gas down the carb throat, PUT THE FLAME ARRESTOR BACK ON, and give it a whirl. Some carb cleaner in the carb might not hurt considering how long it has sat.
 
Gassers what do you think of this?

Depending on how much fogging oil or other used in preparation, if it can be turned by hand, I would leave the plugs out and spin it on the starter to spray out excess oil and help lube the walls/rings. Throw clean rags over the heads and look for rust splatters. Then move on to starting it for real if things go well.
 
On a side note, the tires are not good. You just got lucky.

Boatbum has a good low cost process to follow.

Don't get too deep into it. When it starts costing money and stops adding enjoyment to your life. Time to sit back with a fine scotch and reevaluate.
 
I was going to mention the tires and should have as well. Excellent point. They dry out and fail. I would also clean and repack the bearings.
 
20 year old tires??? You got lucky

First thing is to clean the fuel system including lines and carb. If the oil is reasonably clean, I d pull the spark plugs and pour some diesel in there. Let it sit for while and then crank with the plugs out to get most of it out. Diesel is pretty liquid so it will get into the rings. It will lubricate pretty well too

Then new plugs, new oil and filter. Carb will
Probably need be rebuilt rebuilt too.

Also, make sure the drive has fresh oil and line whatever needs to be especially the U joint and the bearings thru the flange. Been 30 years since I v e dealt with small boats but I recall some grease fittings up there

You may get lucky but chances are you will loose money …
 
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